Highway stars

Friday 5 October 2018

            Originally-scheduled departure from cloudy, gloomy, soaking wet Buffalo: Noon Thursday. Actual departure: 1:02 p.m.

But, wait, there’s a tuxedo to pick up out near the Galleria Mall in Cheektowaga. Did I mention that we’re on our way to a wedding on Long Island? Black tie. I tried to get the tux on Wednesday. Wasn’t ready.

Really getting out of town: Around 2. By now the sun is peeking through the clouds. The downpour is heading east.

Us, too, but the familiar roads on this route are only slightly wet. Route 20A to Warsaw and the Wyoming County windmills. I-390 from Mount Morris to Bath with maple trees starting to turn red and gold. The I-86 to Corning, Elmira and Binghamton alongside streams and rivers swollen and muddy. The I-81 into Pennsylvania.

At the rest stop in the Poconos, it’s getting dark as we change drivers. We catch up with the downpour. The rain-sensing wipers go crazy. The GPS system in the car starts to argue with the GPS system on Monica’s iPhone. A terrifying half an hour later, somewhere around Scranton, we stop again.

Soon as I’m back behind the wheel, the rain stops. The GPS systems make peace. The car’s trip computer registers an average speed of 60 mph and gas mileage of 36.6. Clear sailing on the I-80 to the George Washington Bridge.

Well, almost to the George Washington Bridge. On the approach to the toll barrier, multiple lanes of traffic are frozen. When an accident is cleared and the traffic thaws, we get to notice what they’re charging these days to cross that bridge. $15. Welcome to New York!

Original arrival time: Around 7 p.m. Projected arrival time all afternoon: 8:06 p.m. Actual arrival time: 9ish.

Among the many things we unpack from the car after we arrive at Monica’s mother’s house on the far side of the Whitestone Bridge in Queens (Toll: $8) are a few bottles we’ve accumulated from all those Friday afternoon tastings at Paradise Wine. One of them is a pinot noir from New Zealand. It goes down even better now than it did at the shop.

Dreary day in the Elmwood Village just before our departure. Guy in the tan jacket stood on our corner all the time I was loading the car and was still there when we rolled away. Drug dealer? Burglar casing our casa? Considering that he didn't budge when I walked around taking phone photos, he was probably just waiting for a kid to arrive on a school bus.